The world of intelligent devices is changing dramatically.
The computerized devices around us are getting smarter; they're
increasingly connected and interdependent, and they're becoming
vastly more numerous. And, all this is happening at an
ever-increasing rate.

Blame it on Moore's Law, but it's now practical to embed
moderately high-performance computing and connectivity in just
about everything that runs on electricity—whether tethered or
mobile. This trend is fueled by powerful and highly integrated
system-on-chip processors, coupled with large-capacity system and
storage memories (both disk and silicon), and empowered by wired
and wireless communications interfaces (Ethernet, IrDA, 802.11,
Bluetooth).

Another important phenomenon is that as both embedded
computing and connectivity proliferate, the intelligence within
tomorrow's devices is becoming less localized. Increasingly, the
precise location of the software running on these devices is
blurring, and eventually we're unlikely actually to know where the
programs we use are located. Is the application running inside the
device? Is it based on some remote server (e.g., a home services
gateway)? Is it located at an internet-based application service
provider? Is it a combination of all three?

Call it distributed intelligence or distributed computing.
Call it .NET. Call it the post-PC era. Whatever you call it, one
thing's certain: the era of isolated, autonomous desktop PCs
running nothing but localized software is coming to an end, like
the mammoths of the Ice Age.

Welcome to the Post-PC Era

As the boundaries of the traditional computing paradigm blur
and a new reality based on distributed, interconnected, pervasive
computing devices dawns, a few important attributes of the coming
era draw into focus:

The number of smart devices (i.e., products with
embedded operating systems inside) will grow exponentially,
reaching numbers in the billions.

The choice of CPU will be more a matter of cost
than technology or architecture.

Nearly all devices will have connectivity, whether
wired or wireless.

Most devices will have the ability to be upgraded
or repaired remotely, by downloading new firmware or
software.

Most devices will have specific rather than
general-purpose functionality, so their application software will
be defined by their manufacturers (rather than loaded by their
users).

In general, most computing devices in this new era will
not be PCs. Instead, they'll be smart
appliances of various shapes and capabilities, used for
information, entertainment, control and other purposes. Think of
things like smart wristwatches (with built-in mobile phone and PIM
functions), advanced cell phone/PDAs, audio/video systems, security
systems, automobile infotronics, smart kitchen appliances and
PC-like desktop terminals. The list goes on and on.

A Fertile Field for Linux

As the number and variety of devices with embedded
intelligence grow exponentially, the need to minimize cost and
maximize specialization increases correspondingly. Hence, embedded
Linux becomes a highly desirable technology for the operating
system due to its scalability, configurability and
affordability.

It's worth noting that until recently, the cost penalty
associated with the CPU and memory resources necessary to run Linux
had been a somewhat limiting factor, relative to using it in
cost-sensitive devices. Now, however, the baseline needs of
embedding Linux—roughly 2MB Flash and 4MB RAM memory and a
moderate speed processor—have become reasonably inexpensive,
thanks in large measure to Moore's Law.

And Java

Another important challenge in this new era in which we'll be
surrounded by billions of increasingly intelligent devices, all
communicating with one another, is the obvious need to simplify and
quicken the process of application development, deployment and
maintenance. In this regard, Java appears postured to play an
increasingly significant role.

Although Java failed to hit the target for which it was
initially developed (which was, ironically, to serve as an embedded
operating system within smart devices), Java ended up providing a
convenient means to enable moving applications around among
computing devices—propelled to this position by the dramatic
emergence of the Web.

Today, despite its early failure as an embedded operating
system, Java is showing promise in the role of providing a
device-independent application platform, running on top of the
embedded operating system. In this case, rather than serving as the
operating system itself, Java provides the benefit of masking the
unique aspects of the underlying device and providing an array of
services beyond those offered by the embedded OS.

In the context of an exponential proliferation of smart
devices, Java is emerging as a handy way to minimize
device-specific development and to allow developers to focus on the
truly unique aspects of their projects. Increasingly, Java is
providing a means to obtain functionality like GUIs, web browsers,
protocol stacks, handwriting and speech recognition, wireless
communications, multimedia support, database management and a wide
range of remote services.